by Keda Edwards Pierre
Recently, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end racial and gender-sensitivity training for federal agencies. He later extended the ban to federal contractors, claiming that topics such as white privilege and critical race theory were “divisive, anti-American propaganda.” Additionally, a Trump administration memo directed agencies to cancel these contracts for suggesting the U.S. is “an inherently racist or evil country.”
The administration’s move contradicts the open, actionable discourse that diversity and inclusion training promotes. When world leaders denounce useful, evidence-based programs, it suggests that company leaders and organizational managers should ignore these programs, too.
However, diversity and inclusion training speaks to the very core of the issues that organizations face right now with employee engagement and well-being.